


Everything Goes Away

by aluminum_heart



Series: Holding Onto You [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Gen, POV Second Person, Platonic Relationships, nonverbal link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 07:46:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6946240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aluminum_heart/pseuds/aluminum_heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zelda and Link after their final battle against Ganondorf</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything Goes Away

**Author's Note:**

> i don't own any of the game or the characters
> 
> all dialogue is taken from the video game

The first thing you notice when you open your eyes again is how still everything is. It is almost as if time has stopped, and everything is frozen and silent, a broken clock that will never be wound again. The smoke and ashes hang in the air, Ganondorf’s last attempt to choke your life away. The muscles in your arms and shoulders are screaming for you to lower your sword, but you ignore them, holding it tightly in both hands, prepared to strike again should the Gerudo king suddenly reappear. That would be one of his tricks, you think to yourself, lulling you into a false sense of security only to attack the moment you let your guard down.

“Thank you.” Zelda’s voice breaks the silence, and you whip around, ready to defend her from any dangers. But she just stands there, looking at you calmly. “Thanks to you,” she repeats, “Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm." You blink at her, the words refusing to make sense in your head, and she smiles gently at you, nodding encouragingly. You hesitantly lower your sword, its heavy weight suddenly too much for your tired arms to support. You wince slightly as blood surges back into your arms and your aching body floods with relief. Pins and needles prickle through your fingers and your left shoulder crackles from holding that position for so long.

The wind picks up, spiriting the shadows and smoke away from the castle ruins, and you abruptly inhale a lungful of fresh air, gasping dizzily at the implication of her words. Ganondorf is gone. His reign of terror has ended, your mission unexpectedly complete. You can rest. You realize belatedly that Zelda is still talking, and you force yourself to listen to her words.

“You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time,” she is saying. “However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed.” She breaks eye contact with you for the first time and looks down at her hands, seemingly unable to meet your gaze. “Link, give the Ocarina to me. As a Sage, I can return you to your original time with it.” She holds out her hand and looks up at you expectantly.

You watch your arm move of its own accord, offering up the Ocarina with which she had entrusted you all those years ago. Some small, separate part of you snorts silently and corrects yourself, reasoning that while for her the exchange had happened seven years in the past, for you it was a mere month ago. You place the Ocarina in her hand, and before you can pull away she covers your hand with her other, prompting you to look at her face. Her eyes are fixed on your enjoined hands, and the expression on her face is one you can’t quite figure out. 

“When peace returns to Hyrule, it will be time for us to say goodbye,” she says, and releases your hand. It falls lifelessly back to your side as the word “goodbye” echoes over and over in your head. How could this be a goodbye, when you’d only just begun your journey? “Now,” she says, holding the Ocarina to her chest and smiling brightly at you, “go home, Link. Regain your lost time!” Her smile fades slightly, tightening with a trace of that same unknown emotion she had before. “Home… where you are supposed to be, the way you are supposed to be.” 

Everything inside you freezes up, your heart skipping a beat as your mind registers the words she’s saying. Go… back? To being a kid? You realize your mouth has fallen open and you quickly shut it again, but before you can do anything else, Zelda raises the Ocarina to her lips and begins to play it. Your eyelids shutter closed automatically as the lullaby’s notes dance around you, filling you with the sensation of calm you’ve always associated with Zelda. 

Opening your eyes again, you see that a crystal has formed around you, the same crystal that transported you out of every dungeon after the monsters inside were defeated. Suddenly panicking, your heart racing and blood roaring in your ears, you lock your eyes on Zelda, looking for something, anything, to stop her. If you could even just look into each other’s eyes one last time, that would ease the tightening in your chest, but her eyes remain shut as your body is lifted into the air. You think you see a tear begin to trace a path down her cheek, but now you’re moving upwards, faster and faster, and everything fades into white light. 

For one too-short moment, her words echo in your head. “Thank you… Link…” Then you’re gone.


End file.
